Money Hacks for Long Term Travel

At some point or the other, we’ve all been bitten by the travel bug. Be it from scrolling through our Pinterest travel wish list or envying our friends Facebook album from their latest trip abroad, we’ve all felt like just packing our bags and setting off on a journey that in its own way is more important than the end. However, life’s not always made up of rainbows and cotton candy clouds. There are constraints, and quite challenging ones too, that life throws at us just when we’re at the cusp of taking the plunge and going ahead with the trip of our dreams. Of all the hurdles related to travelling, monetary restraints are the trickiest. While travelling can be done cheap, the fact remains that you still need to have a certain amount of money kept aside for it, you know, for a rainy day! Usually, we are under the assumption that short trips and budget vacations are always pocket friendly, but the truth is that these hit and run holidays incur more real-time cost than ones that you plan for months on end. Managing your finances while ensuring that you don’t restrict yourself from having fun can be a tough balancing act to master, therefore, in the spirit of travel and living, here are some simple money hacks that will help you with your long term travel plans.

Budget plan

Start with a plan and though this might seem terribly boring, the truth is that it is what lays the foundation for how you should proceed in the future. Chalk out how much you need to spend to run everyday life smoothly and keep aside a little extra for the weekends, birthdays and other special occasions that call for indulgent spending. Understanding your finances and creating a plan is the first hack that you need to master.

Monitor cash flow

When you have a budget plan ready (and this could be divided daily, weekly and monthly) you should be ready to monitor your cash flow regularly. The reason why this hack is important is that when you start keeping a close eye on how much you’re spending, you automatically start saving without realising it. Sticking to a monetary schedule is imperative at this stage because it can take you a long way with respect to future travel plans.

Automate savings

While the beauty of monitoring cash flow is that you’re making an effort to curb the amount of money going out of your wallet, it becomes even more effective if you simultaneously start finding ways of putting aside some of the money from your wallet. Savings is something that we never pay too much attention to. In our young and carefree days, we often forget that in order to enjoy some of the biggest pleasures of being financially and socially independent (travelling being one of them), one must automate savings. One hack for doing this is that instead of holding on till the end of the month to put away whatever is left, keep an amount in mind and stash it away during the first few days of the month, immediately after payday. Keep repeating this habit until it becomes an automated process and you’ll be one step closer to your travel dreams.

Collaborate

Sometimes, there is nothing more joyful than travelling solo. Packing your bags and heading off to the unknown, knowing that you’re only responsible for yourself is a divine feeling. However, if anything had to contest the idea of going on an adventure by yourself, it would have to going on an adventure with some of your closest friends. It is precisely for this reason that the forth long-term monetary hack is such a fun one to get under your belt. One of the best ways to cut down on a travel budget is to share it with someone. When you have a travel buddy who is willing to share the load both monetarily and with respect to planning responsibilities, you’ll see that the whole experience becomes affordable as well as enjoyable. Definitely worthy of being on the best friend bucket list, when you collaborate you automatically take a step closer to attaining your travel goals.

Keep a little away

Last but not the least; try to keep a little extra away everyday for your future travels. Be it lose change from your morning visit to the supermarket or some spare from the taxi you took back home from work, keep a little travel collection jar tucked away in the corner of your cupboard where you can go and stash extra funds for the future. Whether it’s a lump sum or just some lose change, any donation, big or small, is always welcomed to the future travel fund, right!

Maybe money doesn’t buy true happiness, but it sure does help you purchase your tickets to your next destination!